Changes in the Physico-chemical and Microbial Quality during the Production of Pastırma Cured with Different Levels of Sodium Nitrite

Abstract

Pastırma, a dry-cured meat product, is produced from the whole muscle and/or muscles obtained from certain parts of beef and water buffalo carcasses. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of different levels of sodium nitrite on changes in the physicochemical and microbial quality during the production of pastırma. The changes in residual nitrite, salt, pH, moisture, thiobarbutiric acid reactive substances (TBARS), colour (L*, a*, b*), total aerobic mesophilic bacteria (TAMB), lactic acid bacteria (LAB), Micrococcus/Staphylococcus (M/S), mould-yeast (M-Y), and Enterobacteriaceae counts of pastırma with 0, 50, 100 and 150 ppm sodium nitrite were determined during the production. The nitrite levels and the production stages had significant effects (p<0.01) on residual nitrite, TBARS, pH, salt, and colour values. The TBARS values of the pastırma with nitrite were significantly lower (p<0.05) than the control. The final TAMB, LAB, M/S, and M-Y counts of pastırma with 150 ppm nitrite were significantly (p<0.05) lower than the control. Also, the a* (relative redness) values of control pastırma were significantly lower (p<0.05) than the pastırma with nitrite. The production stages had a significant effect (p<0.01) on the moisture.

Changes in the Total Lipid, Neutral Lipid, Phospholipid and Fatty Acid Composition of Phospholipid Fractions during Pastirma Processing, a Dry-Cured Meat Product

“…The mean value determined in the final product pastırma was below the upper limit of 6.0 determined by Turkish Food Codex Meat and Meat Products Notification ( Anonymous, 2012 ). In various studies, changes in the pH values are in parallel with our findings and they all increase during production process ( Aksu and Kaya, 2001a ; Aksu and Kaya, 2002a ; Aksu and Kaya, 2002c ; Aksu et al , 2016 ).…”

The proteolytic changes in two different types of pastırma during the production

“…The pH value of the pastırma should be above 5.5 in terms of sensory characteristics (Kaban, ; Leistner, ). As in the present study, the pH value of the pastırma was reported to be above 5.5 in other studies (Aksu, Erdemir, & Çakıcı, ; Akköse, Ünal, Yalınkılıç, Kaban, & Kaya, ).…”

Effects of cemen paste with lyophilized red cabbage water extract on the quality characteristics of beef pastırma during processing and storage

“…The results clearly showed that LRCWE‐added cemen pastes had no significant effect ( p > .05) on microbiological counts of pastırma. M/S counts were consistent with studies reporting that the dominant flora in dry‐cured meat and pastırma were these microorganisms (Aksu et al, 2016a), and it was also determined that the addition of the extract had no effect on this bacterial group (Table 3). Our data for microbiological counts of pastırma was supported by Cakici et al.…”

“…The effects of treatment and the production stages and storage time on the TBARS values of sliced meat and pastırma (AC, after adding cemen; BC, before adding cemen; RM, raw material) on microbiological counts of pastırma. M/S counts were consistent with studies reporting that the dominant flora in dry-cured meat and pastırma were these microorganisms (Aksu et al, 2016a), and it was also determined that the addition of the extract had no effect on this bacterial group (Table 3). Our data for microbiological counts of pastırma was supported by Cakici et al (2015) and Aksu andKaya (2001, 2005)'s previous observations.…”

“…The raw material and various production stages affect the quality characteristics of the final products. The various stages of pastırma production are dry curing, first drying, first pressing, second drying, second pressing, covering with cemen paste, and again/final drying (Abd‐Elghany et al., 2020; Aksu et al, 2016a; Hastaoglu & Vural, 2018), and do not include smoking and heating processes (Cakici et al, 2015). Processing of pastırma takes approximately 3 or 4 weeks.…”